Skip to the guide Online care, explained. A plain-language guide to finding care. Find your place - The overview - Find real care - Your first visit - The prescription - Check the pharmacy - The whole bill - After the visit - Pause and check - The reading list Take it at your pace. Go to this page’s guide U.S. information as of September 2026. What an online consultation involves Before choosing a service # Start with the person providing care. Look for licensed telehealth care—care from a health professional at a distance—or an in-person clinic. Begin with the person who would assess you. Location ## Your location sets the licence check Rules checked in September 2026 generally require doctors to hold a licence or other permission to practise. That licence or permission must apply in the state you are physically in when the visit takes place. Let the service know your planned location for the visit, including any travel. Ask for the clinician’s full name, licence type, and licence number. The record ## Open the state board’s own search A state medical board licenses doctors. Its public records show the current status of a doctor’s licence, along with any action the board has made public against that doctor. The Federation of State Medical Boards publishes a directory with links to individual state boards. Find the state medical board Match the service’s details to the board record. A nurse practitioner can assess health problems and prescribe as state rules permit; this professional is a nurse. A physician assistant is a health professional who can prescribe when state rules allow. Ask whether that person must work with a doctor and which state board holds their licence record. A record with no public action against the doctor shows what the board has published. Care quality cannot be judged from that record. The visit ## Ask how the assessment will happen Choosing a medicine from a website’s list is not enough for a prescription, says the state medical boards’ national group. Its guidance, checked in September 2026, calls for a review of your health. Ask who reviews your health details and how that person can ask you more questions. Ask how to raise questions of your own with that clinician. Something to ask Who will assess me, and how will we talk if something in my health history needs more detail? Your details ## Read the privacy terms before sharing Look for written terms that explain how the service protects your health details and payment information. If that explanation is missing or unclear, ask the service before sharing your details. Keep a copy with your visit notes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. medicines regulator, includes written protection of personal and payment details in its online-pharmacy checklist. Follow your consultation question Bring a short note so the visit starts with what matters to you. Prepare for the visit The reading list Plain-text copy Back to the top This guide helps you navigate online care; we operate no clinic and sell no medicine.